Department for Transport

Motorways: Repairs and Maintenance

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department issues to the Highways Agency on phasing works on motorways to reduce congestion and journey times; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: The Highways Agency is delivering the biggest ever programme of investment in our national roads – £24 billion from the start of this current Parliament through to 2021. This will ensure we have a strategic road network that continues to help sustain economic growth and meet the needs of the road user. Work is planned very carefully to minimise disruption as far as possible, and to ensure the safety of road users and road workers. Where the Agency has to close lanes for safety reasons, this is done at quieter times and at night when possible. They aim to keep motorways open during works rather than closing them and diverting traffic onto local roads less suitable for motorway traffic. Also, a high proportion of road works are lifted on bank and seasonal holidays to limit disruption to road users.The Highways Agency has a process in place for the planning of road works, referred to as the Network Occupancy Management process. This process sets out the procedures for the management of road space occupancy with the primary objective of reducing road user delay. In simple terms, the process was designed to aid the Agency in its legal obligation, under Section 59 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991; to coordinate and where possible minimise the impact of works. The process provides a clear definition of roles and responsibilities and a set of structured management procedures.The process is underpinned by a road space booking system which was designed to provide accurate and up to date information on lane closures on the Strategic Road Network. This system is populated with all planned road works and analyses their proximity and timing to other works. The system also includes a delay cost model allowing the impact of occupation on traffic to be estimated which supports an evidence based decision making approach embodied in the process.

M18

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will investigate the reasons why the roadworks on the M18 motorway were not phased to take place after the completion of the roadworks on the M1 motorway south of junction 32.

Mr John Hayes: To maintain the strategic road network in a safe and serviceable condition, it is inevitable that Highways Agency road works will need to be undertaken at several locations at any one time throughout the year. Maintenance work is programmed to achieve good value for money and minimise disruption to road users. The majority of work is undertaken overnight to reduce lane closures when the motorway is busy. In planning major road works on the M18 and the M1, the option of breaking construction into a number of smaller sequential phases was considered, however this would have had the impact of prolonging the overall duration of construction and therefore the length of time road users were disrupted.

Channel Tunnel Railway Line

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to protect High Speed 1 services to Ashford and other intermediate stations after the sale of the Government's shareholding; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The Government is not undertaking a sale of High Speed 1(HS1) network. The HS1 network is operated on a concession from Government and remains the property of the Secretary of State. Given that there is no sale occurring there is no impact on the current level of services to Ashford or intermediate stations.

Government Car Service

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department's review of the Government Car Service will be published.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The review of the Government Car Service is part of the Government’s "Ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV) readiness project", through which central department fleets are being reviewed to see where ULEVs could be run cost effectively, and funding provided to introduce ULEVs into these fleets. We expect to announce the results of this project, including how many vehicles will be introduced into each fleet, following completion of all reviews.

Highways Agency

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the total of each cost heading for transfer of the Highways Agency to a government-owned company.

Mr John Hayes: The Government has published an Impact Assessment detailing the estimated cost of roads reform and transforming the Highways Agency into a Strategic Highways Company. We have estimated these costs as a one off transitional cost of £11 million (the cost of necessary reform to Department for Transport, Highways Agency, the monitor and watchdog) alongside average annual costs of £10 million going forward; this will generate an estimated annual benefit of £380 million.

Bus Services: Disability

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to encourage bus operators to install audio visual announcement systems.

Mr John Hayes: At the Department for Transport’s most recent ‘Bus Partnership Forum’ on 16th July, my Noble Friend, the Minister of State for Transport, Baroness Kramer, encouraged representatives from the bus industry to invest in these systems, where possible. The cost of installing and maintaining existing audio and/or visual announcement technology on buses can place a financial burden on local bus operators.With this in mind, my Noble Friend has launched a new schools technology competition, which will seek innovative and cost-effective solutions on how to provide passengers with accessible information during their journey.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Written Questions: Government Responses

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to answer Question 207630, tabled on 1 September 2014 by the right hon. Member for Leeds Central.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to answer Question 207599, tabled on 1 September 2014 by the right hon. Member for Leeds Central.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Local Plans

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what percentage of local planning authorities in England have (a) not published, (b) not submitted and (c) not adopted a local plan as of 21 October 2014.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to answer Question 210272, tabled on 13 October 2014 by the right hon. Member for Leeds Central.

Stephen Williams: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to answer Question 208912, tabled on 10 September 2014 by the right hon. Member for Leeds Central.

Stephen Williams: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

South Sudan

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure a comprehensive arms and ammunition embargo is imposed on all parties in South Sudan.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

United Nations Day

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how the Government plans to mark UN Day on 24 October 2014.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St John DBE, Minister responsible for the United Nations, delivered the keynote address at the United Nations Association-United Kingdom’s UN Day Reception on 23 October, yesterday evening, at which she celebrated the UN’s successes and underlined the UK Government’s commitment to, and leadership on, the UN’s work. The speech has been published on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the number of (a) cases of mediation undertaken between banks and individuals or companies and (b) outcome of mediation following use of the enterprise finance guarantee scheme.

Matthew Hancock: Operation of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) is devolved by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to the participating lenders. BIS monitors lenders’ administration of EFG but does not intervene in individual disputes between lenders and borrowers.   If a borrower has a complaint regarding their loan they should initially follow their lender’s internal complaints process. If that does not provide a satisfactory outcome then in most cases they have the option of approaching the Financial Ombudsman Service.   Use of mediation as a means of resolving any disputes which may have arisen between participating lenders and borrowers who have received an EFG-backed loan is a matter for the lender and borrower.

Arms Trade: Exports

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his Department's policy is on reviewing export licences to a country where defence equipment supplied by UK firms has previously been used for internal repression.

Matthew Hancock: The UK aims to operate one of the most rigorous and transparent export control systems in the world. All export licence applications are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking into account all prevailing circumstances at the time of application. In particular, Criterion Two concerns the ‘respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination as well as respect by that country for international humanitarian law’. The Government will not issue an export licence if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression.   Export licences are kept under review in the light of changing international circumstances. A cross-government mechanism can suspend or revoke extant licences when a changing situation, such as an outbreak of conflict or acts of internal repression, means the licence would no longer be consistent with the Consolidated Criteria.

UK Export Finance

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of successful applicants to the UK Export Finance export insurance scheme have been small to medium sized enterprises in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Export Finance

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of successful applicants to the UK Export Finance export working capital scheme have been small to medium sized enterprises in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Export Finance

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of successful applicants to the UK Export Finance supplier credit facility have been small to medium sized enterprises in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Export Finance

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of successful applicants to the UK Export Finance letter of credit guarantee scheme have been small to medium sized enterprises in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Export Finance

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of successful applicants to the UK Export Finance buyer credit facility of credit guarantee scheme have been small to medium sized enterprises in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

ACAS

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to evaluate the effect of the ACAS early conciliation service on keeping workplace disputes out of court.

Jo Swinson: Early Conciliation was introduced in April 2014 and it is too early to make any meaningful assessment on the effect of Early Conciliation on Employment Tribunal cases at this stage. However, officials in the Department and Acas are already monitoring the impact of Early Conciliation and I will make an announcement on evaluation in due course, once we have a sufficient evidence base to do so.

Video Games

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funds distributed by the Technology Strategy Board were allocated to the video games sector in each of the last three years; and what proportion of the total funding from that Board this represented in each such year.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Innovate UK is the new name for the Technology Strategy Board.   In 2011/12 Innovate UK did not provide any funds to organisations in the video games sector. In 2012/13, it provided £277k (0.06% of its core budget) to organisations in the video games sector and in 2013/14 it provided £1.9m (0.4% of its core budget).   The figures above do not include any awards made under Innovate UK’s Smart or Knowledge Transfer Partnership programmes, as this information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Minimum Wage

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2014 to Question 201383, how much was spent on national minimum wage enforcement in 2013-14.

Jo Swinson: £7.5m was spent by HM Revenue and Customs on the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage in 2013/14.We have increased the budget allocation for National Minimum Wage enforcement in 2014/15 to £9.2m. This extra funding will enable HMRC to increase the number of compliance officers working in this area who, as well as continuing to respond to every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline, will also undertake targeted enforcement, focusing on the worst offending employers in the highest-risk sectors.Anyone who believes they are entitled to the National Minimum Wage and has not received it should contact this free and confidential helpline on 0800 917 2368.

Department for International Development

Electronic Government

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department made towards achieving the departmental digital strategy objective of becoming digital by default.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID’s Digital Strategy 12 Months On Report (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-international-development-digital-strategy-2012-to-2015) details our Department’s progress during 2013. We will publish a report on our progress made during 2014 in December 2014. This will include updates on delivering better results, building capability in our staff, making it easy to do business with DFID (such as the new international development funding finder) and improving the way we communicate on major issues.

Electronic Government

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress in digital service delivery her Department has made since setting up the Digital Advisory Panel.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The Digital Advisory Panel has focused on the areas of work outlined in the DFID digital strategy and challenged the department to look at ways of improving how digital can support delivery of results in our development programmes, improve our internal business processes, and help us become more open and engaging. We will publish a report on our progress in December 2014.

Department for Education

Science: Primary Education

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increase the number of science graduates teaching in primary schools.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education wants to see more science graduates in teaching, both at primary and secondary level. There are currently around 26,100 primary teachers in state schools with science-related degrees (11.5%). We promote primary teaching to science graduates through our “Get into Teaching” campaign as well as supporting 500 primary places to Teach First which recruits top graduates into teaching.In addition to initial teacher training, we are supporting a number of initiatives to improve the science knowledge of existing primary teachers. There are 266 Specialist Leaders of Education in science who are boosting other teachers’ knowledge across the country. We are also collaborating with the Wellcome Trust who are developing a programme for primary science teachers to strengthen further their expertise. In this way, they will be able to train non-specialist teachers to excel in science, providing further capacity in this important area.

IGCSE

Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether students who have A* to C grades in unregulated English and mathematics IGCSEs will be required to study for GCSEs in those subjects as a condition of receiving funding for a post-16 course.

Nick Boles: Students on post-16 courses who hold an unregulated IGCSE qualification at Grade C or above will not be required to study maths and English GCSE in 2014/15 or 2015/16. No decision has been made in relation to students who sit the first new GCSEs in summer 2017 and enter post-16 education that September. An announcement will be made before September 2015 when the new GCSEs in maths and English are first taught.

Schools: Finance

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools have received a net reduction in funding between 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Mr David Laws: A school’s total Schools Block funding will change between the two years depending on the number of pupils registered at the school and their characteristics as well as the schools funding formula determined by the local authority.The minimum funding guarantee ensures that no school should see a reduction in their Schools Block per-pupil funding in 2014-15 of more than 1.5% compared to the previous year.

Schools: Standards

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were taught in schools rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted in (a) 2010 and (b) the last date for which figures are available.

Mr David Laws: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. A copy of his reply will be placed in the library of the House.

City Technology Colleges

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many city technology colleges still exist; and how many such colleges have converted to Academy status to date.

Mr Edward Timpson: There are three open city technology colleges. There are 12 open academies whose predecessor school was a city technology college.

City Technology Colleges

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in schools with city technology college status are looked-after children; and how this figure compares to other schools in their local authority areas.

Mr Edward Timpson: The latest information on numbers of children looked-after in each school is for 2013. There were three schools with city technology college status for which information was returned on the spring 2013 school census. The information requested is provided in the table below.Name of city technology collegeBRIT School for Performing Arts and TechnologyEmmanuel CollegeThomas Telford SchoolLocal authorityCroydonGatesheadTelford and WrekinNumber of looked-after children attending15xxHeadcount of children in school21,0901,2451,290Looked-after children as a percentage of headcount0.6xxNumber of looked-after children attending all state funded secondary schools in local authority1,321014080Total number of children attending all state funded secondary schools in local authority222,07512,22010,950Looked-after children as a percentage of all those attending state funded secondary schools in the local authority1.01.10.7Source: 2013 SSDA903 Children looked after data collection matched to the spring census 2013Notes:From SSDA903 Children looked-after data collection matched to the spring census 2013. To be included in this data, children must have been looked after during the year from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013, had a UPN submitted by the local authority and been successfully matched with the spring 2013 school census.Taken from the spring 2013 census described in the Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2013 Statistical First Release.Relates to the local authority where the children were educated. The local authority responsible for the care of the children may be different.Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5, percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.x denotes a number from 1 to 5 inclusive, which has been suppressed to protect confidentiality. Percentages have been suppressed where the numerator was 5 or less.

City Technology Colleges

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to make national guidance on fair admissions which gives priority to looked-after children binding on city technology colleges.

Mr Edward Timpson: All maintained and academy schools must comply with the School Admissions Code. This requires them to give highest admissions priority to looked-after and previously looked-after children.The School Admissions Code does not apply, however, to city technology colleges (CTCs), including city colleges for the technology of the arts (CCTAs), which are independent schools set up under provisions originally within the Education Reform Act 1998.Each of these schools was established prior to the introduction of a mandatory School Admissions Code, so the funding agreements put in place do not require them to give priority to looked-after or previously looked after children.Any variation in those funding agreements has to be with the CTC or CCTA’s agreement.

Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 12 of her Department's publication, Implementing a new 0 to 25 special needs system: LAs and partners, published in July 2014, how the £45.2 million special education needs and disability implementation grant has been allocated to local authorities.

Mr Edward Timpson: Small local authorities (Isles of Scilly and City of London) receive £25,000 and all other local authorities receive set up costs of around £50,000, a further sum is allocated on the basis of population estimates for each local authority and, adjusted according to a number of factors including area costs and deprivation.The link below provides further background and amounts for individual local authorities:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/318588/S31_SEND_Implementation_Grant_Determination_Letter__2014-15__FINAL_SIGNE....pdf

Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impairment

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many deaf pupils achieved five A* to C grades in (a) England, (b) the South West and (c) Plymouth in 2013.

Mr Edward Timpson: The number and proportion of pupils at the end of key stage 4 with a hearing impairment who achieved 5 or more GCSE A* to C grades (or equivalent) in a) England, b) the South West and c) Plymouth in 2013 can be found in the table below. Pupils with a hearing impairmentNumber of eligible pupils1Number of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades (or equivalent)Percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades (or equivalent)England1390102473.7South West1258265.6Plymouth10xxSource: National pupil databaseFigures are based on pupils at the end of key stage 4 and do not include those pupils recently arrived from overseas.x = Figures not shown due to 1 or 2 pupils not achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades (or equivalent). This suppression is to protect pupil confidentiality and consistent with the Department for Education’s statistical policy[1].[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-official-statistics-published-by-the-department-for-education

Teachers: Training

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects to announce the initial teacher training: trainee number census 2014-15 for (a) school direct places and (b) provider-led places.

Mr David Laws: The Initial Teacher Training Census for 2014-15 will be published on 27 November 2014. This will contain a breakdown of figures to cover school-led (including school direct) and provider-led places.The publication will be made available at:www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-teacher-training

Schools: Radicalism

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her contribution of 22 July 2014, Official Report, column 1262, what progress her Department has made on implementing the commitments made in the 2011 Prevent Strategy review; and what plans she has to publish the information on her Department's work in this area.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Government publishes an annual report which describes recent developments in the terrorist threat to the UK and its interests, and the progress made in our counter-terrorism work. This includes high-level information about the contribution of different Government departments to the implementation of the Prevent strategy.The Secretary of State's statement to the House on 22 July, in response to Peter Clarke's report into allegations about schools in Birmingham, set out the latest steps that the Government is taking to increase the resilience of schools to extremism.The Secretary of State is still considering the best format to update the House on delivery of the Department’s commitments, and will report in due course.

Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many special educational needs support staff have bid for funds from the National Scholarship Fund to date.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much of the £1 million made available for teachers and special educational needs support staff through the National Scholarship Fund has been awarded.

Mr Edward Timpson: The National Scholarship Fund was introduced in 2011 following a commitment in the Importance of Teaching white paper to encourage teachers to deepen their subject knowledge. This year the priority subject area was special educational needs.In round two, the National Scholarship Fund was expanded to include a scholarship for special educational needs (SEN) support staff to undertake a SEN related course or activity. There were 493 applications from SEN support staff and in round three of the National Scholarship Fund there were 225 applications from SEN support staff and in this year’s round (round 4) there were 215 applications from SEN Support Staff.Of the £1 million made available for teachers and SEN Support staff in the National Scholarship Fund 2014-15, £792,652.63 was offered to applicants as awards.Scholarships will only be awarded where applications are judged to be of sufficient merit. This will determine the number of scholarships awarded. We sought the assistance of colleagues from the sector to form an expert panel to judge the applications. The panel interrogated and ratified the internal assessment process. As impartial educational professionals they brought particular and relevant expertise to the process. They acted as independent external verifiers to ensure the rigour and consistency of the assessment process, and to endorse the scholarly nature of funded development activity.

Academies

Mr Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in which academy trusts have members been (a) elected and (b) selected.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education does not collate centrally information on what arrangements academy trusts have for the election or appointment of members. The model articles of association for academy trusts set out the arrangements for the composition of the members. Members may be appointed by a foundation or sponsor body, or by a special resolution of the existing members.

Academies

Mr Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in which academy trusts have directors of the board been (a) elected and (b) selected.

Mr Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in which academy trusts have parent governors been (a) elected and (b) selected.

Mr Edward Timpson: The model articles for academies provide that most directors are appointed by the trust members. They also set out that parent directors – and local parent governors who sit on local governing bodies in multi academy trusts – shall be elected. Where fewer parents stand for election than there are vacancies, the number of parent directors required shall be made up by parent directors appointed by the directors. The Department for Education does not collate centrally information on what arrangements academy trusts have for the election or appointment of directors and parent governors.

Teachers: Training

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to encourage (a) computer science graduates and (b) professional programmers to become teachers.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education is committed to recruiting high-quality graduates into teaching. The latest data published by UCAS on 25 September 2014 in its ‘UCAS Teacher Training statistical releases’[1], indicates that there will be an increase in computing trainees commencing initial teacher training (ITT) this year, although this will not be certain until the 2014/15 ITT census is published.For computing trainees starting their training in 2015/16, we have increased bursaries to up to £25,000 tax-free. We are also funding a prestigious scholarship scheme for computing trainees worth £25,000 tax-free and offering a range of professional benefits. Additional funding has also been made available to schools offering School Direct (salaried) places in computing to boost starting salaries; computing trainees will be able to earn over £21,000 nationally and £25,000 in inner London.There are a range of other incentives in place to attract high quality computing trainees into the teaching profession, including:The delivery of a targeted marketing campaign to encourage high-quality computing graduates and potential career changers to consider a career in teaching.The offering of tailored support for graduates and career changers interested in teaching computing, including access to a School Experience Programme.Funding of computing subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) programmes, which prepare applicants for teacher training by building up or refreshing their existing knowledge. 31% of computing applicants who accepted an ITT place for 2013/14 accessed a SKE course.[1] www.ucas.com/data-analysis/ucas-teacher-training-statistical-releases

Ministry of Justice

Prisoner Escapes

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the names are of all prisoners who have absconded from prison and currently not been returned; and if he will specify in each such case (a) the offence each absconder originally committed and (b) the length of custodial sentence they were serving when they absconded.

Simon Hughes: I apologise for the delay in replying. The table below provides details of index offence and length of sentence of those absconders who are unlawfully at large having absconded between April 2004 and March 2014 (the most recent period that statistics are available). Information prior to April 2004 could only be collated by performing manual checks across different databases and could only be achieved at disproportionate cost. In order to disclose the names of absconders who are unlawfully at large, it is necessary to make appropriate checks to ensure that disclosure will not jeopardise ongoing Police operations to recapture the offender, will not place any one else in danger and to ensure that any victim has been informed of both the abscond and release of the name. These checks are still on-going and I will write shortly as soon as the information has been prepared. The number of absconds has reduced by 80% over the last 10 years. Table1: Index offence and sentence length of absconders unlawfully at large from April 2004 to March 2014, as at 30 September 2014OFFENCESENTENCESUPPLYING DRUGS3 YRSGOING EQUIPPED TO CHEAT2YRSGOING EQUIPPED TO CHEAT2YRSPOSSESS DRUGS WITH INTENT6YRSAGGRAVATED BURGLARY4YRS 6MTHSFALSE INSTRUMENTS6MTHSBURGLARY18MTHSDEATH BY RECKLESS DRIVING4YRSIMPORT/EXPORT DRUG19YRSCONSPIRACY TO COMMIT THEFT3YRS 6MTHSIMPORT/EXPORT DRUG9YRSTHEFT8MTHSCONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD7YRSIMPORT/EXPORT DRUG12YRSIMPORT/EXPORT DRUG7YRSPOSSESS FIREARM WITH INTENT78MTHSIMPORT/EXPORT DRUG12YRSPOSSESS OFFENSIVE WEAPON23MTHSBLACKMAIL3YRSPOSSESS DRUGS WITH INTENT3YRS 6MTHSIMPORT/EXPORT DRUG10YRSCUSTOMS EVASION (DRUGS RELATED)7YRSFINES6MTHSDECEPTION30MTHSIMPORT/EXPORT DRUG5YRSCUSTOMS EVASION (DRUGS RELATED)8YRSASSISTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS54MTHSDECEPTION9MTHSTRESPASS WITH INTENT15MTHSCONSPIRACY TO COMMIT THEFT3YRSTHEFT15MTHSCONSPIRACY TO COMMIT THEFT2YRSDECEPTION26MTHSPOSSESS OFFENSIVE WEAPON5YRSASSISTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS6YRSDECEPTION12MTHSCONSPIRACY TO SUPPLY DRUGS6YRSPOSSESS DRUGS WITH INTENT6YRSFALSE INSTRUMENTS12MTHSMANSLAUGHTER5YRSTHEFTUnknownCONSPIRACY TO IMPORT DRUGS8YRSROBBERYLIFEFALSE INSTRUMENTS18MTHSDECEPTION30MTHSTHEFT4YRSCONTEMPT OF COURT15MTHSBURGLARY6MTHSSUPPLYING DRUGS42MTHSGBH2YRSFRAUD5YRSFRAUDDETAINEECONSPIRACY TO SUPPLY DRUG40MTHSPOSSESS FIREARM WITH INTENTLIFEBURGLARY112DAYSPOSSESS DRUGS WITH INTENT7YRSGOING EQUIPPED TO STEAL6MTHSTHEFT2YRSEXCESS ALCOHOL112DAYSCONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD6YRSROBBERYISPPPOSSESS DRUGS WITH INTENT3YRSROBBERY6YCONPIRACY TO COMMIT BURGLARY3 YRS 3 MTHSPOSSESS FIREARM WITH INTENTLIFEBURGLARY3YRSARSONISPPRAPELIFEROBBERY9YRSWOUNDING WITH INTENT6YRS 8MTHSROBBERY3YRSGBH8YRSROBBERYISPPBURGLARY32MTHSBURGLARY2Y 6MTHSPOSSESSION OF A FIREARM WITH INTENTISPPCONSPIRACY TO COMMIT BURGLARY64MTHS Note: Table shows absconds of prisoners and excludes absconds of immigration detainees from NOMS operated establishments and those operated as Immigration Removal Centres by NOMS under contract to the Home Office. These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Prisons: Drugs

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) drug caches including heroin and (b) needles used for drug-taking were found in each prison during the last year for which figures are available; and how many prisoners tested positive for heroin use in each such prison in that year.

Andrew Selous: I am sorry that the response to this question was delayed by a failure in the data collection system. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes the issue of all contraband in prisons extremely seriously and deploys a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband both at the point of entry to the prison and concealed within the prison. These include targeted searching, random and targeted mandatory drug tests, the use of x-ray machines and CCTV surveillance cameras, Body Orifice Security Scanners to detect contraband secreted internally, and the imposition of closed (non-contact) visits. Prisoners found with prohibited items face swift and robust punishment. This can include having days added to their custody, being transferred to a different prison and losing privileges. The table below gives the number of seizures of heroin and needles (including improvised needles) seized in prisons in England and Wales in 2013. The third column shows the number of prisoners that tested positive for opiates, including heroin in each of those prisons. To disaggregate the data to show those samples positive for heroin from those positive for other opiates would require a detailed investigation of every prison’s locally held records, which would entail significant disproportionate cost. Finds of heroin, needles and Opiates by establishment1 01.01. 2013 to 31.12.2013EstablishmentHeroinNeedlesPositive Opiates TestsAltcourse9135Bedford2017Birmingham8054Bronzefield2148Buckley Hall01013Bullingdon7131Cardiff4017Channings Wood035Chelmsford4017Doncaster1321Dorchester4110Dovegate1015Eastwood Park2116Elmley0116Erlestoke108Everthorpe4018Exeter6010Featherstone5013Ford0137Forest Bank90123Foston Hall1011Frankland1020Garth6018Guys Marsh3016Hatfield01620Haverigg419Hewell1618High Down0110Highpoint9113Holme House1011Hull2011Isle Of Wight2013Kirkham2936Kirklevington Grange115Leeds3116Leicester307Lewes4014Lincoln106Littlehey106Liverpool1060Low Newton203Lowdham Grange2124Manchester4121New Hall108North Sea Camp034Northumberland0118Nottingham6048Oakwood4037Onley104Parc0256Pentonville1145Peterborough11318Portland112Preston8023Ranby107Risley1027Rochester1214Rye Hill6313Stafford5111Standford Hill337Stoke Heath1021Styal2025Sudbury01313Swansea518Thameside3115The Mount6019The Verne102The Wolds104Wandsworth208Wayland1022Wealstun103Wormwood Scrubs7014Total2031921328  Heroin finds have reduced by 82% when compared to 2007, positive opiate tests by 82% also, and the total number of incidents of drug finds has fallen by 19% since 2007. And, under this Government, the Random Mandatory Drug Testing rate has reached the lowest level since records began. No drugs or equipment were found, or opiate tests failed, in 2013 at prison establishments that are not listed above. It is important to note that many drugs are similar in appearance and in many cases drugs seized are not categorically identified by scientific analysis. Many will have been identified by appearance only. All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.

Youth Custody

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases of child abuse have been reported in youth custody environments in each of the last 10 years.

Simon Hughes: Establishments must report to their local authority for investigation any suspected cases of abuse or instances where a child is identified as having suffered, or is at risk of, significant harm. If the allegation or concern involves a member of staff, the establishment will report this to the designated officer, whose job it is to investigate concerns involving adults working with children.   Arrangements for the governance of child protection referrals are agreed between the establishment and the local authority, through Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards. Data on the referrals made through this process are collected locally and monitored in line with the agreed protocols.   Child protection referrals can cover a range of incidents, including complaints made by young people about any aspect of their treatment in custody. It is not possible centrally to determine how many of these referrals relate to particular concerns.   The Youth Justice Board (YJB) requires each establishment to demonstrate how it fulfils its statutory safeguarding duty and undertakes a monitoring function to assure itself of performance against statutory responsibilities. Service specifications clearly reinforce and reflect the requirement that establishments and their LSCB will reach agreement on how they work together. This agreement will include how establishments must report to their local authority for the investigation of any suspected cases of abuse or instances where a child is identified as having suffered, or is at risk of, significant harm.   This is supported by robust independent inspections by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for all under 18 YOIs, which take place annually, and by HMI Prisons, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in Secure Training Centre’s (STCs), and by Ofsted in Secure Children’s Homes (SCHs).   The inspectorates will speak to young people and staff, review documents and observe practice. They will also engage with other partners, including local authorities, in order to fully test partnership working and delivery of child protection arrangements.   The YJB’s established relationships with these inspectorates ensures that they are made aware of any systemic issues or concerns within a particular establishment, and are then able to subsequently take appropriate action.   The YJB augments inspection findings and the outcome of local authority audits with its own assurance monitoring to identify any trends and concerns within the youth secure estate. In all cases the YJB interrogates findings and any identified or emerging trends, and takes appropriate action where necessary, including: · the YJB’s own referral to local authorities for investigation; · requests to inspectorates to instigate urgent reviews and · the requirement that establishments/providers instigate action plans for service improvement.The YJB continues to monitor the progress of these actions, in order to ensure its statutory responsibilities for maintaining the safety and well being of children in custody are fulfilled.

Air Travel

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what occasions each Minister within his Department has taken domestic flights on official business since May 2010.

Simon Hughes: The table below details domestic flights taken on official business booked through the Department’s business travel contracts for each Minister within the Department since May 2010. The Crown Dependencies (Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man) although not part of the United Kingdom, fall with the Common Travel Area and as such are treated as domestic flights. NameItineraryDate of TravelChris GraylingLondon Gatwick - Aberdeen10/09/2012Chris GraylingAberdeen - London Heathrow10/09/2012Chris GraylingLondon Gatwick - Belfast City06/02/2013Chris GraylingBelfast City - London Gatwick06/02/2013Chris GraylingLondon Gatwick - Guernsey23/09/2013Chris GraylingGuernsey - Jersey23/09/2013Chris GraylingJersey - London Gatwick24/09/2013Chris GraylingLondon Gatwick - Isle Of Man07/07/2014Chris GraylingIsle Of Man - Manchester08/07/2014Chris GraylingLondon Gatwick - Belfast Intl05/09/2014Chris GraylingBelfast City - London Gatwick05/09/2014Shailesh VaraLondon Gatwick - Belfast City, Belfast City - London Gatwick20/05/2014Lord Edward FaulksLondon City - Isle Of Man, Isle Of Man - London City04/04/2014Lord Edward FaulksLondon Gatwick - Guernsey19/06/2014Lord Edward FaulksGuernsey - London Gatwick21/06/2014Lord Edward FaulksLondon Gatwick - Jersey,04/08/2014Lord Edward FaulksJersey - London Gatwick05/08/2014Jeremy WrightExeter - Manchester, Manchester - Exeter02/10/2013Lord Tom McNallyLondon Gatwick - Guersney, Guersney - London Gatwick08/06/2012Lord Tom McNallyLondon Gatwick - Jersey, Jersey - London Gatwick26/07/2012Lord Tom McNallyLondon Gatwick - Isle Of Man15/11/2012Lord Tom McNallyIsle Of Man - Blackpool16/11/2012Lord Tom McNallyLondon Gatwick - Guernsey, Guernsey - London Gatwick16/04/2013Lord Tom McNallyLondon Gatwick - Jersey, Jersey - London Gatwick14/11/2013Simon HughesLondon City - Glasgow11/08/2014

Conditions of Employment

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many off-payroll engagements for more than £220 a day and for a period of longer than six months were established in each of the last four years; and what the total cost of such payments has been.

Simon Hughes: In responding to this question we have utilised data provided by our contracted supplier of interim staff who fall into the category above. This data is only available for the last 3 years under contract. Where the interim’s contract spans financial years the spend data is reported for the year in which spend was incurred, all figures are based on total charge rate exc VAT: YearNumber of Contractors paid £220 or more, with a total contract length of more than 6 monthsSpend in Financial Year from workers who have had contracts over 6 months in duration2011-12242£20,814,1602012-13139£23,792,1422013-14173£26,152,415There are currently no off-payroll staff from whom assurances about their tax status are outstanding. We have made it absolutely clear to all relevant contractors that they must meet their tax and national insurance obligations. Any senior off-payroll workers who fail to provide assurances about their tax arrangements face having their contracts terminated.We only use temporary staff to fulfil essential roles within the Ministry of Justice; these staff provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not currently available in-house.Spend for this requirement has increased due to the demand of our priority programmes – which will deliver significant savings across the Ministry of Justice’s budget. It should be noted that since April 2010 the annual spend on interims as a whole has decreased by £10m.

Sexual Offences: Reoffenders

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rate was of sex offenders categorised as very high risk in each police force area in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rate was of sex offenders categorised as high risk in England and Wales, by police force area, in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: Public protection is our top priority and is at the heart of our Transforming Rehabilitation reforms. We are clear that management of the offenders who pose the highest risk of serious harm should remain with the public sector. The new National Probation Service is responsible for the direct management of those offenders who pose the highest risk of serious harm to the public and who have committed the most serious offences. This includes sex offenders and Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) cases. Offenders who are deemed to pose a medium and low risk are being managed by a Community Rehabilitation Company. Every offender will be risk assessed prior to allocation to any probation provider and also upon leaving prison; this will be reviewed when there are indicators that their risk of serious harm to the public has increased to high. The Ministry of Justice publishes proven re-offending rates for adult and juvenile offenders on a quarterly basis. However, these rates cannot be provided for those offenders classified as very high risk or high risk as the information held centrally does not currently hold an assessment of risk. Assessments of risk are held locally by the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies.

Courts: Buildings

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the monthly cost is of each court building which has been closed but not disposed of since May 2010.

Simon Hughes: The Department is committed to disposing of surplus property assets expeditiously and reducing holding costs. The monthly cost of each court building which has been closed but not disposed of since May 2010 is detailed below. The majority of these courts were closed as part of the Court Estate Reform Programme (CERP). CERP is expected to deliver an estimated £99m resource savings plus £53m from the sale of buildings. Under this Government court buildings that were rarely used or no longer suitable were closed as part of our drive to cut waste. There are temporary costs associated with ensuring unused courts are kept secure and protecting the fabric of each building, as well as property tax rates payable to the local council. When disposing of surplus property assets we will always seek best value for the taxpayer. In addition to the courts announced for closure under CERP, the Ministry of Justice has closed and disposed of a number of court buildings as a result of the integration and co-location. Table: monthly cost of each court building which has been closed but not disposed of since May 2010 as at 30 June 2014 Court BuildingAverage monthly cost 1, 6Bishop Auckland Magistrates’ & County Court 2£2,893Bridgwater Magistrates’ Court 3£1,951Bridport Magistrates' Court£1,839Burton-upon-Trent County Court£1,590Cirencester Magistrates’ Court£1,053Coleford Magistrates’ Court£1,423Dorking Magistrates' Court£4,740Epping Magistrates’ Court£1,931Flint Magistrates' Court£1,945Frome Magistrates' Court£869Goole Magistrates' Court 4£632Haywards Heath (Mid Sussex) Magistrates’ Court£7,255Honiton Magistrates’ Court£1,298Houghton Le Spring Magistrates' Court 5£1,794Keighley (Bingley) Magistrates’ Court£5,171Lewes Magistrates’ Court£8,456Lyndhurst Magistrates’ Court£2,557Market Drayton Magistrates' Court£3,898Oswestry Magistrates' Court & County Court£1,958Pontefract Magistrates’ Court£4,940Rochdale Magistrates’ Court£9,974Selby Magistrates’ Court£6,055Sherbourne Magistrates' Court£1,301Stoke-on-Trent Magistrates’ Court£9,040Totnes Magistrates’ Court£2,184Towcester Magistrates' Court£1,184Weston Super Mare Magistrates’ Court£488Wimborne Magistrates' Court£4,122Witham Magistrates’ Court£1,502Footnotes:1. Monthly cost based on financial year data 2013/14. Holding costs include rates, fuel and utilities, facilities management, telephony and other property costs.2. Bishop Auckland Magistrates’ Court and County Court building was sold on 11 August 20143. Monthly cost based on financial year data 2012/13 and 2013/14 in order to address rates rebates in 2013/144. Monthly cost based on financial year data 2012/13 and 2013/14 in order to address rates rebates and accounting adjustments made in 2013/145. Monthly costs includes spend for associated office, The Villa.6. Costs are not comparable between financial years due to events such as rebates for rates, utilities, facilities management and telephony.

Julian Assange

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to the public purse was of the court hearings about the bail sureties given in the case of Julian Assange.

Mr Shailesh Vara: HM Courts & Tribunals Service records the costs incurred in the operation of all our courts and tribunals and carefully monitors those costs on an ongoing basis. Average costs are published in the HMCTS Annual Report and Accounts. However, HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not record the cost of individual cases or hearings due to the complexity and additional costs this would incur.

Courts: Bedford

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost of the court at Shire Hall in Bedford has been, by major cost category, in each of the last (a) 12 months and (b) five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: HMCTS keeps its estate under continuous review to ensure that it meets operational requirements. The costs for the Magistrates, County and Family Courts at Shire Hall, Bedford in each month between September 2013 and August 2014 are as follows:  Rent & RatesMaintenanceIT andTelecomsTotal Facilities Management ²Fuel and UtilitiesSeptember£10,025£0£1,782£33,386£2,105October£10,025£546£700£5,960£1,549November£10,025£0£7,004£36,016£4,099December£10,025£0£1,184-£2,777£7,503January£10,025£3,049£1,404-£19,380£5,125February£10,025£0£2,555-£2,996£6,087March£10,025£0£15,313-£159£6,350April£9,841£0£2,960-£80£2,370May£9,841£0£2,644£6,103£3,621June£11,066£2,057-£411£21,708£2,305July£10,249£1,900£4,720£16,929£3,918August£10,249£0£2,160£29,700£2,581 Note: 1. The TFM contract came into effect in February 2012 and includes miscellaneous property costs2. Reflects in-year accounting adjustments.  The costs for the Magistrates, County and Family Courts at Shire Hall, Bedford in each year since 2009 are as follows: Rent & RatesMaintenanceMisc property costsIT andTelecomsTFMFuel and Utilities2009-2010£107,565£112, 206£133,983£64,492- ¹£107,5532010- 2011£102,010£99,895£114,691£452-¹£2,0832011-2012£110,985£79,787£101,137£8,743£18,472£45,3762012-2013£117,110£12,163£277¹£22,997£155,169£52,5522013-2014£120,295£1,772£0¹£35,909£106,385£49,829Note: 1. The TFM contract came into effect in February 2012 and includes miscellaneous property costs2. Reflects in-year accounting adjustments.

Magistrates' Courts

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hearings have taken place in each magistrates' court in England in each of the last four years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Magistrates’ courts hear criminal, civil and enforcement cases. Family matters are dealt with under the jurisdiction of the Single Family Court, although they may be heard in a magistrates’ courts building. Criminal, civil and enforcement matters are recorded on the Libra case management system and total hearings for those are provided in the attached table. Family hearings are recorded on a separate system and to extract and validate which family hearings took place in magistrates’ courts would incur disproportionate costs.



Hearings at Magistrates' Courts 2010-11 to 2013-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 46.5 KB)

Magistrates' Courts

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with magistrates regarding delays at magistrates' courts.

Mr Shailesh Vara: HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is committed to the continuous improvement of performance in Magistrates’ Courts; this includes minimising delays in hearing cases. The performance of Magistrates’ Courts depends upon the performance of the criminal justice system as a whole, and HMCTS works closely with other agencies in the criminal justice system, including the police and the CPS, in order to keep delays to a minimum. My officials have had regular discussions with magistrates. The Chief Executive and HMCTS Directors meet on a quarterly basis with the Chairs of the Magistrates’ Association (MA) and the National Bench Chairmen’s Forum (NBCF) to discuss various issues, which include performance in the Magistrates’ Courts. The performance of the Magistrates’ Courts has also recently been discussed at meetings of the Senior Presiding Judge’s Magistrates’ Liaison Group (MLG) the membership of which includes both the judiciary and senior officials from HMCTS. At a regional level, Judicial Business Groups (JBG) and, more locally, Judicial Leadership Groups ( (JLG) provide a further forum where the judiciary and my officials can discuss the performance of local Magistrates’ Courts and, where necessary, the judiciary can put in place local listing arrangements to tackle delay.

Written Questions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's latest internal guidance for officials on the drafting of answers to Parliamentary Questions.

Simon Hughes: The Ministry of Justice’s internal guidance for answering parliamentary questions was updated and published on the Department’s intranet on 29th September 2014. I will send the hon. Member a copy and also arrange for it to be placed in the Libraries of the House.In addition, the Cabinet Office has produced guidance for civil servants on drafting answers to parliamentary questions. This may be found on the gov.uk website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-answers-to-parliamentary-questions-guidance

Judicial Review

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many judicial review cases his Department has unsuccessfully intervened since 2010.

Simon Hughes: The purpose of an intervention in a judicial review should be to help the court decide the case.Details of interventions made by this department since 2010 are not held centrally.

Mesothelioma: Compensation

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the High Court decision of 2 October 2014 on the effect of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) on mesothelioma sufferers, when the review of the LASPO Act and mesothelioma sufferers will begin; and what the terms of reference of that review will be.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Government is considering the judgment handed down by the High Court on 2 October. We will set out the next steps in due course.

Trials

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases in (a) magistrates' courts and (b) the Crown court were awaiting trial on 1 October in each of the last five years.

Simon Hughes: Data are published in Court Statistics Quarterly showing the number of outstanding trial cases in the Crown Court annually at the end of 2001, and quarterly at the end of each quarter commencing March 2009, including at the end of 30 September. The outstanding number of cases in magistrates’ courts is published broken down by indictable only trial cases, either way trial cases, summary motoring cases and summary non-motoring cases from the quarter ending June 2012. This data set was created in April 2012 so data is not available prior to that date. Prior to this, completed proceedings were published for magistrates’ courts. The data does not distinguish between trial cases still awaiting their trial and those who have either pleaded guilty or been convicted and are awaiting sentence. Court Statistics Quarterly is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/court-statistics-quarterly Data to September 2014 is due to be published on 18 December 2014.

Judicial Review

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many judicial review cases have been successfully brought against his Department in each year since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara: It has not been possible to access this information within the time limit but I will provide an answer in due course.

Criminal Proceedings: Veterans

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2014 to Question 204963, whether the review of veterans in the criminal justice system has reported to him.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2014 to Question 204963, when his Department's review of veterans in the criminal justice system will be published; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: I am expecting the review to report back to the Secretary of State for Justice by the end of October 2014 and we anticipate publishing it shortly thereafter.

Courts

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases dealt with by (a) magistrates' courts, (b) family proceedings courts, (c) county courts, (d) coroners' courts, (e) the Crown court, (f) high court, (g) the court of appeal or (h) the Supreme Court involved a party for whom there is no legal representations on the court record in each year since 2010.

Simon Hughes: Parties with no legal representation are not a new phenomenon in our courts. Judges are used to helping persons with no legal representation, including explaining procedures and what is expected of them. We have taken steps to help people who either want or have to represent themselves in court, particularly in the family court. On 23 October we announced further support for separating parents and court users in civil and family courts.The new support will include:· Improving online information so that it is accurate, engaging and easy to find.· A new strategy, funded by the Ministry of Justice, and agreed with the legal and advice sectors which will help to increase legal and practical support for litigants in person in the civil and family courts.· A new ‘Supporting separating parents in dispute helpline’ pilot run by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) to test a more joined-up and tailored out-of-court service.This package of support will help provide separating couples and court users with the information, advice and guidance they need to help settle disputes in the most appropriate and proportionate way. However, it has not been possible to answer the question within the timeframe as the information is being assembled from a variety of sources, but I will write to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available. A copy of the letter will be placed in the House Library.

Criminal Proceedings: Veterans

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings his Department's review of veterans in the criminal justice system has held since 16 June 2014.

Mike Penning: The review team, which includes the Chair of the review - Stephen Phillips QC MP, the advisors assisting him and the two secretariat staff, have attended fourteen meetings since 14 July 2014. These include an oral evidence session, a visit to HMP Manchester and Cheshire and Greater Manchester CRC and a meeting to discuss progress between the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Stephen Phillips QC MP and myself – Mike Penning MP.

Harassment: Sentencing

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average custodial sentence was for people found guilty of (a) stalking and (b) harassment in 2012-13.

Simon Hughes: The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA) makes it a criminal offence for someone to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment (section 2) or causes someone to fear that violence will be used against them (section 4). The PHA was amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 to insert two specific offences of stalking - sections 2A (stalking) and 4A (stalking involving fear of violence or serious alarm or distress). The average custodial sentence for people found guilty of harassment and stalking in between 2009 and 2013 can be viewed in the table.



harassment and stalking - custodial sentences
(Excel SpreadSheet, 18.5 KB)

Information Commissioner

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure that the Information Commissioner has sufficient powers to enforce his rulings.

Simon Hughes: The Government is committed to making sure that the Information Commissioner has sufficient resource to carry out its statutory duties. The Ministry of Justice works closely with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to keep its enforcement powers under review. Further information about the ICO’s enforcement powers can be found on its website - www.ico.org.uk.

Ministry of Defence

DSG Ashchurch

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the study by the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Logistics Operations) into the railhead at Ashchurch is still pending; and when he expects to receive the report of that study.

Mr Philip Dunne: In April 2014 the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Logistics Operations) commissioned a Capability Investigation into future defence rail in order to inform future investment decisions; this included a review of all railheads used by defence. A staff review of the investigation report is currently being completed – it is expected that this review will take up to 90 days to complete.

Tornado Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on (a) the Tornado TCAS trials at BAE Warton and (b) the embodiment programme for the Tornado fleet as a whole.

Mr Philip Dunne: Flight trials of the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System II in two Tornado aircraft during 2014 have revealed a number of issues that require resolution before the system can be rolled-out across the fleet. It is not possible to give an indication of revised timescales until the scope of the additional work has been properly assessed.

Sentinel Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department expects to sign the contract for the life-extension of the Sentinel aircraft.

Mr Philip Dunne: With regards to the signature of contracts for the life extension of the Sentinel aircraft fleet, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 September 2014 (Official Report, column 103W). To date, no related costs have been incurred. On current plans, a contract for the development and installation of the maritime capable software upgrade will be let in spring 2015. Sentinel was already fitted with a Dual Mode Radar when it entered service with the Royal Air Force.



210889 - Hansard extract - Military Aircraft
(Word Document, 23.5 KB)

Iraq

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, from what sources his Department's operations in Iraq are being funded.

Michael Fallon: Operations against ISIL in Iraq are being funded by the Ministry of Defence and Her Majesty's Treasury; the net additional cost of the provision of military support to humanitarian assistance is being funded by the Department for International Development.

Clyde Naval Base

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many apprenticeships will be created by the defence contract awarded to Faslane naval base.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Maritime Support Delivery Framework (MSDF) Contract includes support provided by Babcock Marine to the management of Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde over the next five and a half years. The recruitment of apprentices is a matter for Babcock Marine. However, the company has given the Ministry of Defence the understanding that the increased certainty from the MSDF contract will allow them to continue the recruitment of apprentices to meet the business needs of the Naval Base. This includes plans to recruit 10 over the next 12 months.

Department for Work and Pensions

Funeral Payments

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications have been made to the Government Funeral Payment scheme since May 2010; and how many such applications have been rejected.

Steve Webb: From the latest data available, 280,780 applications have been made for Funeral Payments in Great Britain between May 2010 and September 2014. In the same period there have been 139,560 refusals.   Notes 1. These figures do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. The figures given are the number of applications and initial refusals in the given time period and not the number of people who made applications or received awards. An individual may make more than one application in a year. Information on the number of people who made applications and received awards is not available. 3. The refusal figures given are based on the initial decisions made on each case and may include cases where an award was later made on review. 4. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Work Experience

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2014 to Question 209803, how many of the people undertaking work experience have since entered paid employment.

Esther McVey: Research with claimants published earlier this year shows that 36 per cent of work experience participants were in employment at the time of interview, and 42 per cent had at least been in employment at some point (even if they were not at the time of the interview). https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284017/rr865-youth-contract-customer-experiences.pdf

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress he has made on commissioning the Health and Disability Assessment Service; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Harper: The commercial competition to secure a supplier to deliver the Health and Disability Assessment Service is nearing its conclusion. I intend to inform Parliament of the outcome of the competition in the next few weeks.

Employment: Disability

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of workplaces in the UK which are accessible to disabled people.

Mr Mark Harper: We do not collect this information. All employers are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled job applicants and their existing employees.

Employment: Disability

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve the support available to disabled people in the workplace.

Mr Mark Harper: Access to Work provides practical and financial support with the additional costs faced by individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job. In response to the Sayce review, the government committed to spending an extra £15m on Access to Work by the end of this Spending Review period. Access to Work has been extended to support some pre-employment activity such as Supported Internships, Traineeships and certain work experience. We no longer apply mandatory cost share for small employers and we have removed the list of standard equipment Access to Work will not fund; instead Access to Work advisers are working constructively with employers and employees to identify where Access to Work can assist. We have also introduced the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service. This can offer support to individuals with a mental health condition who are absent from work or finding work difficult. The service supports those experiencing depression, anxiety, stress or other mental health issues that are affecting their work. Additionally, Fit for Work will be launched in late 2014 with a phased roll-out coming to a close by the end of May 2015. Fit for Work will deliver both a supportive occupational health assessment and general health and work advice to employees, employers and GPs, to help individuals stay in or return to work. Finally, Work Choice provides disabled people with complex barriers to employment with a seamless service covering all stages of the journey into work. Short to longer-term in-work support is provided and progression into open unsupported employment is encouraged, where it is appropriate for the individual. Work Choice can provide an indefinite period of support once the customer is in work in recognition of the fact that some Work Choice participants may need ongoing support to overcome barriers in work that cannot be met through normal workplace adjustments.

Winter Fuel Payments

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many in-work working-age households received winter fuel payments in 2013-14; what estimate he has made of how many such households will be claiming winter fuel payments in each of the next four financial years; and what assessment he has made of the effect of equalising the state pension age for men and women on the take-up of winter fuel payments.

Steve Webb: Information about how many in-work working-age households received Winter Fuel Payments in 2013-14 is not available. The table below shows the number of people aged under 65 receiving a Winter Fuel Payment and the associated expenditure in years 2009-10 to 2018-19 inclusive:  Expenditure (£m)Caseload (000s)2009/10640.83,3582010/11624.13,2652011/12451.52,9272012/13385.42,4842013/14324.12,0562014/15268.21,7142015/16215.81,3892016/17157.11,0192017/1885.85632018/1914.895  NotesNumbers are for Winter Fuel Payments made to those eligible in Great Britain, European Economic Area and Switzerland aged 60-64: outturn to 2013-14; forecast 2014/15 onwards.Winter Fuel Payments in 2009-10 and 2010-11 included one-off £50 payments for the under 80s.One of the Winter Fuel Payment eligibility criteria is a person’s age in the qualifying week (the third full week in September). This age has been rising in line with the increase to the female State Pension age.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Solar Power: Biodiversity

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the conclusions of the BRE National Solar Centre Report on Biodiversity Guidance for Solar Developments published in partnership; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: We want farmers to prioritise making the best use of their land for agriculture and food production, rather than secondary uses. Nevertheless, we welcome the work of the BRE in partnership with the solar and biodiversity conservation sectors to encourage best practice where solar farms are permitted, to mitigate some of the impacts of these developments.

Home Office

Harassment

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many stalking and harassment cases were reported to the police in each year since 2011.

Norman Baker: The Home Office does not collect data on the number of offences that are reported to the police. Not all crimes that are reported to the police will be recorded. The police started recording stalking offences from April 1st 2014 so at present there is only data for April-June 2014 for this offence. Data on stalking and harassment offences are available in Table A4 of ‘Crime in England and Wales’, published by the ONS each quarter. The most recent is available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/period-ending-june-2014/index.html

City of Derry Airport

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the time taken for the disembarkation of passengers at Londonderry Airport on 27 August 2014 as a result of the unavailability of Border Force personnel is not repeated.

James Brokenshire: A full investigation was carried out which included a review of the standard operating procedures. Border Force has worked collaboratively with the airport to strengthen Border Force standard operating procedures for deployments, which have been independently reviewed and implemented.

Radicalism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress the Government has made on steps to reduce the risk of radicalisation of British Muslims.

James Brokenshire: Since the Prime Minister’s Extremism Task Force (ETF) made its recommendations in December 2013, we have made considerable progress in tackling extremism and reducing the risk of radicalisation. This Government has excluded more hate preachers than ever before, and has regularly disrupted events which feature extremist preachers. We have restricted access to online terrorist material, the majority of which is hosted overseas: since December 2013 we have removed from the internet over 32,000 pieces of unlawful terrorist-related content, taking the overall total to over 51,000 since 2010.We have seen a significant rise in referrals to our multi-agency safeguarding programme, Channel, which provides tailored support to people identified as at risk of radicalisation, including from Islamist extremism. The Association of Chief Police Officers reported a 58% increase in the past year. Since April 2012 there have been over 2000 Channel referrals. Hundreds have been offered support under the programme.We have made progress with our ‘Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent’ (WRAP), a training tool which teaches frontline workers how to identify and support those at risk of radicalisation. Since the revised Prevent strategy (June 2011), we have trained over 100,000 frontline public sector workers to identify and support those at risk. We are currently rolling out new, updated training.In the 2013/14 financial year, Prevent practitioners in our 30 priority areas worked with over 250 mosques, 50 faith groups and 70 community groups. We have delivered over 180 community-based Prevent projects since 2011, and are currently supporting over 70. All of our current Prevent projects are focused on the current threat, including Syria and Iraq. Since early 2012, these projects have reached over 45,000 people.In September the Home Secretary announced that the Home Office will now assume responsibility for a new Extremism Strategy. The strategy will aim to build up society to identify extremism, confront it, challenge it and defeat it. It will cover extremism in all its forms, including Islamist extremism.

Radicalism: Children

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent children from being radicalised.

James Brokenshire: Since June 2011, Prevent has funded over 180 projects in priority and supported areas. Around a third of these have focused on schools and supplementary schools – protecting children from extremism and radicalisation. Local Authority Prevent Co-ordinators brief head teachers, teachers and safeguarding leads in schools and regularly provide training to frontline staff.There are currently seven local authorities who have created specific posts dedicated to working with schools funded by the Home Office. Where these projects have been delivered, areas have reported an increase in teachers’ confidence in identifying and dealing with extremism. The Home Office is working closely with the Department for Education to keep our approach under review and ensure that we are doing all we can to safeguard children and young people.

Entry Clearances

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 general visas have been (a) made available and (b) issued since the introduction of a cap on those visas in 2010.

James Brokenshire: An annual limit on the number of Tier 2 (General) authorisations has been in force since 6 April 2011 and applies to Certificates of Sponsorship issued to non-EEA nationals seeking admission to the UK for the purpose of employment.This annual limit has stood at 20,700 in each year since 6 April 2011 and is released on a monthly basis. The number of Certificates of Sponsorship made available each month to Tier 2 sponsors under this limit has, since May 2014, been published at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-sponsorship-restricted-certificate-allocations/allocations-of-restricted-certificates-of-sponsorship.The number of visas issued to holders of a Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship since 2010 is as follows in the Table below.   



Visas issued 
(Word Document, 15.12 KB)

Entry Clearances

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Tier 2 general visas have been (a) made available and (b) issued in each of the last three months.

James Brokenshire: The total number of Tier 2 (general) entry clearance visas that can potentially be made available to possible applicants, via sponsors, is limited to 20,700 per year.In the last quarter for which numbers are available (2014 Q2 April to June) there were 3,299 entry clearance visas granted in this category to applicants overseas (main applicants). Quarterly figures for 2014 Q3 (July to September) will be published on the Home Office website on 27 November as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, which are available from the Library of the House and at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.

Immigration Controls

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made towards introducing universal exit checks at UK borders.

James Brokenshire: The Government is committed to introducing exit checks by April 2015. Under the last Government, exit checks were suspended and nothing was done to identify illegal overstayers.We are currently developing and testing a new Departure Lists system which will enable us to confirm departure and improve our ability to identify those who have overstayed.

Passports: Fraud

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce levels of passport fraud.

James Brokenshire: The security of the British passport is paramount. Preventing and detecting fraud is one of Her Majesty's Passport Office's (HMPO's) key objectives and in 2013-14, of 9,033 cases of fraud were detected.The British passport is one of the most secure documents of its kind. Working with national and international law enforcement agencies, HMPO continues to monitor and review the security of the document in order to prevent and detect fraud both, domestically and overseas. This includes introducing a range of automated system checks; increased interventions with applicants who report their passport as lost or stolen on multiple occasions; and an enhanced facial recognition system. HMPO will also continue to interview all first-time applicants as a means to confirm identity of new passport applicants.

Embassies: Security

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to protect foreign embassies within the UK from potential attack.

James Brokenshire: We do not provide information on the policing operation or security arrangements for foreign embassies within the UK as to do so would risk compromising the integrity of those arrangements.

Islamic State

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been detained in the UK under counter-terrorism legislation as a result of links with Islamic State in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: We face a real and serious threat from international terrorism, including from individuals associated with the ISIL. So far this year more than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences related to Syria.

Islamic State

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of prospective terrorist attacks in the UK with links to Islamic State which have been prevented in the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: We face a real and serious threat from international terrorism, including individuals associated with the ISIL. So far this year more than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences related to Syria.

Schengen Agreement: ICT

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect that Article 37(3) of Council Decision 2007/533/JHA would have on police and border control checks by UK authorities if the UK were to connect to the Schengen Information System II.

Karen Bradley: Council Decision 2007/533/JHA is legislative basis for governing the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) for the purposes of police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters. The communication of relevant data to the issuing State under Article 37(3) will take place on the basis of centralised electronic forms. In the UK that will be coordinated by the National Crime Agency and will have a minimal impact on operational resources. The Government makes no distinction between discreet checks and specific checks under Article 37(4) because, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, UK authorities can only treat these alerts as discreet. However, if there has been a domestic offence committed, or the person is of interest to UK national security agencies, then the person would be dealt with under national legislation. Article 38 provides that Member States shall enter data onto SISII on objects sought for seizure or use as evidence in criminal proceedings. For the UK, SISII will be integrated into the Police National Computer (PNC) infrastructure and will allow officers easy access to create and check lost and stolen objects subject to SISII alerts. Article 39 provides that when a SISII search identifies a "hit" i.e. the database shows that the object has been located, the relevant authority should be contacted in order to agree on next steps. This will be coordinated by the NCA.

Schengen Agreement: ICT

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the usual practice of UK authorities will be with regard to checking whether an object covered by Article 38 of Council Decision 2007/533/JHA is associated with an alert under that article, if the UK were to connect to the Schengen Information System II.

Karen Bradley: Council Decision 2007/533/JHA is legislative basis for governing the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) for the purposes of police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters. The communication of relevant data to the issuing State under Article 37(3) will take place on the basis of centralised electronic forms. In the UK that will be coordinated by the National Crime Agency and will have a minimal impact on operational resources. The Government makes no distinction between discreet checks and specific checks under Article 37(4) because, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, UK authorities can only treat these alerts as discreet. However, if there has been a domestic offence committed, or the person is of interest to UK national security agencies, then the person would be dealt with under national legislation. Article 38 provides that Member States shall enter data onto SISII on objects sought for seizure or use as evidence in criminal proceedings. For the UK, SISII will be integrated into the Police National Computer (PNC) infrastructure and will allow officers easy access to create and check lost and stolen objects subject to SISII alerts. Article 39 provides that when a SISII search identifies a "hit" i.e. the database shows that the object has been located, the relevant authority should be contacted in order to agree on next steps. This will be coordinated by the NCA.

Schengen Agreement: ICT

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 September 2014 to Question 207060, and with reference to Article 37(4) of Council Decision 2007/533/JHA, on what grounds the Government has made no distinction between discreet checks and specific checks under Council Decision 2007/533/JHA.

Karen Bradley: Council Decision 2007/533/JHA is legislative basis for governing the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) for the purposes of police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters. The communication of relevant data to the issuing State under Article 37(3) will take place on the basis of centralised electronic forms. In the UK that will be coordinated by the National Crime Agency and will have a minimal impact on operational resources. The Government makes no distinction between discreet checks and specific checks under Article 37(4) because, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, UK authorities can only treat these alerts as discreet. However, if there has been a domestic offence committed, or the person is of interest to UK national security agencies, then the person would be dealt with under national legislation. Article 38 provides that Member States shall enter data onto SISII on objects sought for seizure or use as evidence in criminal proceedings. For the UK, SISII will be integrated into the Police National Computer (PNC) infrastructure and will allow officers easy access to create and check lost and stolen objects subject to SISII alerts. Article 39 provides that when a SISII search identifies a "hit" i.e. the database shows that the object has been located, the relevant authority should be contacted in order to agree on next steps. This will be coordinated by the NCA.

Immigration Controls

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passengers flew into private airfields and were unchecked by immigration officers in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: It is Home Office policy not to release operationally sensitive information at passenger level.

Asylum: Housing

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have spent a night in a hotel under the Compass contract for asylum seeker accommodation in each month of 2014 to date.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not centrally hold information on the number of asylum seekers who have been accommodated in hotels. This information is held by our accommodation providers. To locate, retrieve and analyse this information and prepare a response would only be possible at a disproportionate cost

Surveillance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether since May 2010 her Department has requested any foreign government to carry out surveillance activities that would be unlawful in that government's jurisdiction.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office and the security and intelligence agencies work closely with international counterparts to tackle threats to the UK. In doing so, full account of our domestic and international legal obligations is taken.

Gangmasters

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) investigations of and (b) prosecutions for illegal gangmaster activity there have been in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley: The data in the following tables is management information collated by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). The data relates only to investigations involving the GLA and prosecutions initiated by the GLA in relation to the offences in the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004. The investigations data includes GLA-only investigations as well as those in which GLA have worked jointly with partner agencies (including the police forces, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, National Crime Agency and the UK Human Trafficking Centre). Over time the GLA has undertaken a reduced number of more complex investigations which focus more effectively on serious and organised crime. This reflects a targeting and risk-based enforcement approach by the GLA. Only one GLA-initiated prosecution has ever failed to return a conviction.   



Management information
(Excel SpreadSheet, 26 KB)

Offenders: Deportation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on securing the removal of Mr Joland Giwa from the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases.

Entry Clearances: Sudan

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any additional restrictions have been recently placed on the granting of visitors' visas for applicants from the Sudan.

James Brokenshire: There have been no such restrictions placed on applicants from the Sudan.

Racially Aggravated Offences

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to identify and implement future crime prevention measures in relation to race hate crime.

Norman Baker: The Coalition government takes all forms of hate crime very seriously. The Government’s hate crime action plan brings together the activities of government departments to: prevent hate crime by challenging the attitudes and behaviours that foster hatred; increase the reporting of hate crime by building victims’ confidence to come forward and seek justice, ensuring the right support is available when they do, and; work across the criminal justice system to improve the operational response to hate crime.Police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have recently been issued with new guidance for dealing with hate crimes, which includes advice for dealing with incidents and how to monitor and deal with community tensions. Data published on 16 October showed a 5% increase in hate crime recorded by the police in the last year with increases across all five of the monitored hate crime strands. The government is encouraged that more victims are coming forward and that the police are improving the way they identify hate crime.The government has also worked with organisations, including Show Racism the Red Card, the Anne Frank Trust and the Jewish Museum to raise awareness of prejudice with children and young people, in order to prevent hate crime from happening in the first place.

Immigration Controls

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date exit checks at the UK border will be used to identify migrants who have overstayed their leave to remain.

James Brokenshire: The Government is committed to introducing exit checks by April 2015. Under the last Government, exit checks were suspended and nothing was done to identify illegal overstayers.We are currently developing and testing a new Departure Lists system which will enable us to confirm departure and improve our ability to identify those who have overstayed having arrived after 1st April 2015 .

Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department took into account the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Draft Communications Data Bill when drafting the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill.

James Brokenshire: The Secretary of State for the Home Department has already made clear that the Government accepted the substance of all of the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Draft Communications Data Bill (Hansard: House of Commons Debate, 7 January 2013, Column 17). The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 did not replicate the proposals that were included in the Draft Communications Data Bill. The Act simply preserved existing capabilities and extended current safeguards to respond to the European Court of Justice judgment on the Data Retention Directive 2006.Alongside the Act, it was also announced that we will reduce the number of public authorities that are able to access communications data under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and require all local authorities to process communications data requests through a centralised "Single Point of Contact" service provided by the National Anti Fraud Network. Whilst these changes respond to some of the Joint Committee’s recommendations, they do not close the key capability gaps which the Joint Committee recognised needed to be closed. These capability gaps have not been addressed and continue to grow.

Immigration Controls

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress she has made on the introduction of exit checks at UK borders.

James Brokenshire: The Government is committed to introducing exit checks by April 2015. Under the last Government, exit checks were suspended and nothing was done to identify illegal overstayers.We are currently developing and testing a new Departure Lists system which will enable us to confirm departure and improve our ability to identify those who have overstayed.

Immigration Controls

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date exit checks at the UK border will enable an analysis of overstayers by nationality, visa type and sponsor.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office is committed to introducing exit checks by April 2015. Under the last Government, exit checks were suspended and nothing was done to identify illegal overstayers.We are currently developing and testing a new Departure Lists system which will enable us to confirm departure and improve our ability to identify those who have overstayed by nationality, visa type and sponsor, having arrived after 1st April 2015.

Entry Clearances

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the consequences for employment of requiring indefinite leave to remain visas to be in a current passport.

James Brokenshire: In May 2014, the Government amended the regulations governing right to work checks to prevent illegal working in the UK. This followed a public consultation on ways to strengthen and simplify controls on the employment of illegal workers and to make it easier for law abiding employers to conduct checks. The changes included reducing the range of documents for checking purposes, with a greater reliance on more secure and current forms of documentation.Since May, endorsements, including those for indefinite leave to remain are therefore required to be in documents which have not expired. This is to enable us to replace insecure immigration documents with secure biometric residence permits. Individuals whose documents are no longer valid may make an application to the Home Office to upgrade their older form of immigration documentation.Employers are only required to conduct a check at the start of employment for those individuals with no restrictions on their permission to be in the UK. Where that individual has made an application to the Home Office because their document has expired, the employer may contact with the Home Office’s Employer Checking Service to verify that the person has the right to work and therefore employment can commence without delay.

Stalking

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has any plans to introduce a register for serial stalkers.

Norman Baker: Convicted stalkers are already captured on the Police National Computer. We need to make better use of existing databases and improve connectivity and information sharing rather than creating new databases or registers for each and every offence. We are working with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to raise awareness and improve professional knowledge. Since October 2012 the College of Policing training package on investigating stalking effectively has been completed over 56,000 times by police. Over 1,500 Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) staff have completed training in stalking.In addition, the Home Secretary has established a National Oversight Group to ensure recommendations from HMIC’s Review into domestic abuse are acted upon. This includes work to improve data collection and data sharing on serial abusers.

Stalking

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to introduce legislative proposals for orders to place a positive obligation on (a) serial stalkers and (b) domestic violence perpetrators.

Norman Baker: We have no current plans to legislate on this issue. However, the Home Office consultation on strengthening the law on domestic abuse closed on 15 October. We are currently assessing the responses and we will consider all of the issues raised in order to determine next steps to offer the best possible protection for victims.

Domestic Violence

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with the voluntary sector on the development of a standards framework to assist local commissioners in commissioning local domestic violence standards.

Norman Baker: The Home Office is currently working with the voluntary sector to deliver a series of events around the country to support the effective local commissioning of violence against women and girls services. A number of voluntary organisations in this field are taking part in these events and using them as a platform to promote the national service standards that they are developing.

Schengen Agreement: ICT

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 September 2014, to Question 207060, on what grounds the Government considers that Article 34 alerts from other EU Member States under Council Decision 2007/533/JHA will not require UK authorities actively to ascertain and communicate the place of residence or domicile of the relevant persons, given the provision of Article 35 of that Decision.

Karen Bradley: Council Decision 2007/533/JHA is legislative basis for governing the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) for the purposes of police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters. In line with Article 25(2) of Council Decision 2007/533/JHA, the National Crime Agency has the authority to refuse to validate Article 26 alerts on proportionality grounds where a general instruction has been issued. This means that UK police officers will not arrest people subject to an Article 26 alert where there is a lack of proportionality.Concerning Article 34 alerts, under Article 35 the UK authorities are not required actively to ascertain the place of residence or domicile of relevant persons, only to communicate such information. Clearly, if they do not hold such information it cannot be communicated. However, if there is supporting information that justifies activity to ascertain proactively the place of residence or domicile of relevant persons action will be taken by UK authorities.

Egmont Group

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 September 2014, to Question 207074, what specific benefits Council Decision 2000/642/JHA provides for exchanging financial intelligence in addition to Egmont Group membership.

Karen Bradley: Egmont Group members share financial intelligence through a dedicated secure network. Egmont Group membership consists of approximately 147 countries and jurisdictions and is underpinned by the principles of the Egmont Charter to which members are signatories. The service enables secure transmission of messages together with attachments and is email based.FIU.Net is a European Union initiative which is available to the National Financial Intelligence Units of all EU Member States. FIU.Net provides a secure method of requesting and sharing financial intelligence between Member States. FIU.Net allows for transmission of messages together with attachments via dedicated secure servers in each jurisdiction. FIU.Net provides UK law enforcement agencies with additional functionality over Egmont secure web, such as anonymised case and data matching.The UK’s domestic legislation allows for the exchange of intelligence data with overseas partners. Council Decision 2000/642/JHA provides a gateway for those member states, in the absence of specific domestic gateway legislation, to exchange data lawfully and efficiently. As a signatory to the decision the UK is able to exchange relevant information with countries lacking domestic gateway legislation.If we ceased to be bound by the Framework Decision we may lose access to FIU.net. Further, we would no longer benefit from the deadlines for prompt exchange of information provided by the 'Swedish Initiative' (FD 2006/960/JHA) in conjunction with FD 2000/642/JHA.

Ebola: Dover Port

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to screen arrivals from West Africa via Europe at the Port of Dover for Ebola; and what steps her Department is taking to liaise with the French authorities to facilitate the screening of people temporarily resident in Calais while seeking to enter the UK illegally for Ebola.

James Brokenshire: Border Force officers assess travellers for symptoms of Ebola following standard protocols issued by Public Health England that have been in place at all ports, including Dover, since August 2014. Enhanced screening for Ebola at specific ports has begun, in line with advice from the Chief Medical Officer, focusing initially on Heathrow, Gatwick, St Pancras, Manchester and Birmingham. This is being carried out by Public Health England. Border Force regularly liaises with the relevant French authorities regarding all operational matters at the port of Calais.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she intends to reply to the letter to the Minister for Immigration and Security on 5 September 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton about Mr Paul Mendy.

James Brokenshire: UK Visas and Immigration wrote to the Rt. Hon. Member on 20 October 2014.

Immigration Controls

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many charities and non-governmental organisations hold Tier two sponsor licences in each region and constituent part of the UK.

James Brokenshire: The table below shows the number of Tier 2 sponsors categorised as charities and non-governmental organisations by region. RegionOrganisation TypeTotalLondon & South EastCharity818Non-Government Organisation15,963Midlands & East of EnglandCharity237Non-Government Organisation3,864North East, Yorkshire & the HumberCharity52Non-Government Organisation1,252North WestCharity54Non-Government Organisation1,229Scotland & Northern IrelandCharity87Non-Government Organisation1,458Wales & South WestCharity81Non-Government Organisation1,526   Note: The Home Office classifies sponsors by region, based on its postcode prefix.

Crime: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of crime levels in Harlow; and what steps she is taking to reduce such levels.

Mike Penning: Police recorded crime in Harlow Community Safety Partnership has fallen by 11% since June 2010.The Government’s police reforms, including cutting unnecessary targets and red tape and giving officers the discretion to use their professional judgment, mean that forces can focus on cutting crime. We have also introduced direct democratic accountability through Police and Crime Commissioners, ensuring that the police focus on tackling the crimes that matter to local people.

Crime: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes of each type have been committed in Harlow constituency in each of the last 15 years.

Norman Baker: The data requested are given in the table. Data for Harlow are available from 2002/03.The Office for National Statistics publishes quarterly statistics on crime. As part of this, a set of open data tables are published, showing crime at Police Force Area and Community Safety Partnership level. These contain the data requested, and can be found using this link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables 



Police recorded crime in Harlow
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.5 KB)

Entry Clearances

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's policy is on collecting fees for visa applications in advance of the application being processed.

James Brokenshire: The Home Department policy is that a fee must be paid prior to the application receiving immigration consideration. An application will only go forward for immigration consideration if it is valid. For an immigration application to be valid a number of requirements must be met. These include the payment of the application fee, unless the applicant satisfies the criteria for a fee exemption. Where an application is invalid and cannot be processed the application fee is returned to the applicant.

Torbay

Mr Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2014 to Question 210481, for what reasons her Answer did not provide details of visits by Ministers to Torbay constituency.

Karen Bradley: We refer to our answer to PQ 210481 and did not provide details of visits by Ministers to Torbay constituency because as was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Bombings: Birmingham

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will indicate what constraints there are on publication of case papers, inquiries or other documents relating to the Birmingham Pub Bombings on 21 November 1974.

James Brokenshire: While the investigation by West Midlands Police into this appalling and devastating crime remains open it would not be appropriate for the police to grant access to their files.

Judicial Review

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many judicial review cases have been successfully brought against her Department in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley: No central records are kept of the number of judicial reviews successfully brought against the department since 2010 and it would incur disproportionate cost to try to acquire this information.

Frontex

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any (a) request by the UK to participate in the activities of Frontex and (b) any offer by the UK to make its expertise and facilities available to Frontex has been refused by the Management Board of Frontex in the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Frontex

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assistance the UK has provided to Frontex operations in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mass Media

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many responses her Department's press office has made to enquiries from student journalists in the last year.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office press office does not collate this data.

HM Treasury

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2014, Official Report, column 123, on universal credit, how much funding his Department approved for universal credit in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014- 15; and for what purposes it has been earmarked.

Priti Patel: I refer the hon Member to the answer given by the Minister of State for Employment on 7 July (OR, col 123) and to the Written Ministerial Statement by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of 13 October 2014, (col 17WS).

Universal Credit

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects HM Treasury to sign off the full and final business case for universal credit.

Priti Patel: I refer the hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statements by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 13 October 2014, (col 18WS) and 23 October.

Private Finance Initiative

Simon Kirby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total private finance initiative liabilities of his Department are for the next 20 years; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: The Treasury holds one PFI project, GOGGS West, which will come to a close in 2037-38. Further information on current PFI and PF2 projects can be found on the following link, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-projects-2013-summary-data.   This data will be updated in due course, in the normal way.

Cost of Living

Dr William McCrea: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to reduce the cost of living for people on the lowest incomes.

Priti Patel: The Coalition Government has taken, and will continue to take, decisive action to support families on the lowest incomes: increasing the personal allowance taking over 3.2m individuals out of income tax altogether by 2015/16, helping to freeze Council Tax, freezing Fuel Duty until the end of the parliament, reducing energy bills, providing universal free school meals for all infant school pupils, and introducing tax free childcare support of up to £2,000.   Getting more people into work alongside improving productivity is the best way to support living standards, as the Bank of England and IFS have said. Sticking to the Government’s long term economic plan to build a stronger and more resilient economy is the best way to do this. Under this government there are more people in work than ever before and unemployment fell 538,000 in the past year – the fastest fall since records began.

Financial Services: Terrorism

Mark Pritchard: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to prevent banks within the UK banking system being used for funding domestic or international terrorism.

Andrea Leadsom: The UK has a comprehensive anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism regime and the Government is committed to ensuring our financial system is a hostile environment for illicit finances.   The international money laundering and counter financing of terrorism standards are incorporated into various pieces of UK law, predominantly the Money Laundering Regulations (2007) and the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) and also the Terrorism Act 2000. All banks within the UK banking system must comply with that legislation.   The Treasury is also responsible for implementing financial sanctions in the UK and for making designations under the Terrorist Asset Freezing etc. Act 2010. We are committed to ensuring that our terrorist asset freezing powers continue to be used and administered in an effective and proportionate way to help protect the public from the threat of terrorism.

Public Sector Debt: UN Resolutions

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the UK voted against UN General Assembly Resolution A/68/L.57/Rev.1, on the establishment of a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes.

Andrea Leadsom: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 15 October 2014. This is available as below:  http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=209454

Terrorism

Stephen Barclay: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) Abd al-Malik Abd al-Salam, (b) Ashraf Abd al-Salam, (c) Salim Hasen Khalifa Al Kawani, (d) Abdelrahman Imer al Jaber Al Nameh, (e) Ibrahim al-Bakr, (f) Abdullah Ghalib Mahfuz Muslim Al-Khawar and (g) al-Subaiy are subject to UK sanctions.

Andrea Leadsom: There are three financial sanctions regimes related to the financing of terrorism in operation in the UK: the UN Al Qaida regime (implemented by EU Regulation 881/2002), the EU’s CP 931 regime, primarily for terrorists external to the EU; and the UK’s domestic regime under the Terrorist Asset Freezing etc. Act 2010. The Treasury publishes a consolidated list of financial sanctions targets that can be accessed from the Gov.uk website, listing all individuals and entities currently subject to financial sanctions in operation in the UK.   Abdelrahman Imer al Jaber AL NAIMEH was listed under the UN Al Qaida Sanctions Regime on 23 September 2014.   Khalifa Muhammad Turki AL-SUBAIY was listed under the UN Al Qaida Sanctions Regime on 10 October 2008.   Abd al-Malik Abd AL-SALAM, Ashraf Abd AL-SALAM, Salim Hasen Khalifa AL KAWANI, Ibrahim AL-BAKR, Abdullah Ghalib Mahfuz Muslim AL-KHAWAR are not currently subject to any of the financial sanctions regimes that are in operation in the UK.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Renewable Energy

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when he expects (a) solar photovoltaic and (b) onshore wind generation in the UK to be free of government subsidy.

Matthew Hancock: The levelised cost of onshore wind and large scale solar photovoltaics (solar PV) are expected to fall over time. These estimated cost reductions are reflected in the administrative strike prices for solar PV and onshore wind in the EMR Delivery Plan, which shows support for these technologies falling over the coming years. Under the CfD auction, it is likely that established technologies will compete on price in order to secure a contract for support. This support will be within the budgetary constraints set through the Levy Control Framework (LCF).It’s difficult to be certain when subsidies will no longer be required. Taking account of uncertainty, some projects may reach parity with wholesale electricity prices in the latter half of this decade or 2020s in the case of most ‘established’ technologies, such as onshore wind and solar PV, and post-2030 in the case of most ‘less established’ technologies, depending on the electricity price scenario used and the speed of cost reductions. The longer term aim is that renewables will be cost-competitive with other forms of energy generation and subsidies will no longer be required.Published estimates of levelised costs are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269888/131217_Electricity_Generation_costs_report_December_2013_Final.pdf

Renewable Energy

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many tonnes of carbon dioxide were displaced by reneweable (a) electricity and (b) heat generation in (i) the UK, (ii) England, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Wales in 2013.

Amber Rudd: The table below shows show many tonnes of carbon dioxide were displaced by renewable electricity in each of the UK, England, Scotland and Wales in 2013. UKEnglandScotlandWalesCarbon dioxide displaced by renewable electricity generation (million tonnes)37.622.811.91.9Carbon emissions displaced by renewable electricity generation have been calculated as renewable electricity generation multiplied by the average emissions factor for electricity supplied by fossil fuel stations in 2013. A breakdown of electricity generation for the countries can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/regional-renewable-statisticsCarbon dioxide emissions factors for electricity supplied can be found in table 5D of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, 2014, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukesInformation on the carbon savings from the total renewable heat produced in the UK is not available. Chapter 6 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics provides more information on renewable heat, and shows that 1,729.1ktoe of renewable fuels were used to generate heat in 2013. The full renewable energy chapter is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes.

Engineers

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many professional chartered engineers his Department employs.

Amber Rudd: The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not record centrally the professional qualifications of its staff and is therefore unable to answer this question without incurring disproportionate costs.

Renewable Energy

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost per tonne of carbon saved by subsidy to (a) onshore wind, (b) offshore wind, (c) dedicated biomass generation plant, (d) biomass conversion and (e) biomass generation produced by combustion of imports of biomass from the US.

Amber Rudd: The subsidy cost per tonne of carbon saved by renewable technologies depends on the type of electricity generation displaced. DECC’s 2012 Bioenergy Strategy1 assumed that offshore wind and dedicated biomass displace combined cycle gas turbine plants and biomass conversion plants displace coal plants. Estimates of subsidy cost per tonne of carbon dioxide saved for these technologies are set out in the following table (the Bioenergy Strategy did not include estimates for onshore wind nor explicitly consider exports). TechnologySubsidy Cost per Tonne of Carbon Dioxide Saved (£/tCO2)Offshore Wind200Dedicated Biomass200 to 530Biomass Conversion50 to 60The range for dedicated biomass and biomass conversions reflects the range in possible carbon dioxide savings. It is the responsibility of generators to determine where in their supply chain they make this saving.Coal to biomass conversions are supported as a transitional technology, to 2027. The table shows that, in the short term, conversions of coal plants can offer better value for money in abatement terms when compared to dedicated biomass plants and offshore wind, which offer longer term benefits.In line with the 2012 Bioenergy Strategy, we have limited support for new build dedicated biomass electricity (without CHP) by placing a cap of 400MW on the total new-build dedicated biomass capacity. This reflects that the carbon savings are less cost-effective than coal to biomass conversions.   [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48337/5142-bioenergy-strategy-.pdf

Energy: Prices

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the schemes in the Levy Control Framework on average annual household energy bills in each of the years from 2015 to 2021.

Matthew Hancock: The projected expenditure from schemes under the Levy Control Framework for the financial years from 2015/16 to 2020/21 will be published as an annex (‘DECC’s Consumer Funded Policies – a report to Parliament’) to the Annual Energy Statement. Publication of the Annual Energy Statement is expected in Autumn 2014.

Energy: Prices

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the effect of schemes in the Levy Control Framework was on average annual household energy bills in each of the years from 2010 to 2014.

Matthew Hancock: In order to help ensure that policies achieve their objectives cost effectively and affordably, the Government introduced a Levy Control Framework to control levy funded spending by DECC at Budget 2011. Over 2010 to 2014 the Levy Control Framework covered the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Warm Home Discount.The table below sets out the estimated average impact on household energy bills over 2010 to 2013. Figures on spend for 2014 are not yet available.Estimated average impact on household energy bills from policies in the Levy Control Framework (real 2012 prices)1 Renewables ObligationFeed-in TariffsWarm Home Discount2010£17£0-2011£20£2Zero2012£24£5Zero2013£30£7Zero  It should be noted that this table only reflects the costs of these policies on bills. Renewable generation supported by RO and FITs helps put downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices, because they have very low operating costs.  [1] These estimates are consistent with the methodology used in the Government’s publication on the impacts of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-impacts-of-energy-and-climate-change-policies-on-energy-prices-and-bills)

Natural Gas: Prices

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the actual historical volatility of wholesale gas prices in each month since June 2010, given as the average deviation from the average price for each month.

Matthew Hancock: We have not made such a calculation.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the strike price for Hinkley Point C in October 2014 prices.

Matthew Hancock: The Hinkley Point C strike price in 2012 prices is £89.50/MWh indexed to the Consumer Price Index. This price benefits from upfront reduction of £3/MWh built in on assumption that EdF will be able to share first of a kind costs of EPR reactors across Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C sites. If the final investment decision is not taken on Sizewell C, the Strike Price for Hinkley Point C will be £92.50/MWh in 2012 prices. The Department has not restated the strike price in October 2014 prices.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the overall cost to the consumer in 2014 prices of the contract for difference for Hinkley Point C over its 35 year lifetime.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Electricity: Prices

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the wholesale price for electricity in each month since June 2010.

Matthew Hancock: The Department does not make its own estimates of wholesale prices for electricity. We typically source market data from sources such as from Marex Spectron.

Energy: Prices

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the likely total allocation from the levy control framework for (a) feed in tariffs, (b) renewables obligations and (c) projects agreed under the final investment decision-enabling process in each year from 2015 to 2021.

Matthew Hancock: The projected allocation from the levy control framework for feed in tariffs, the renewables obligation and projects agreed under the final investment decision-enabling process in financial years from 2015/16 to 2020/21 will be published in an annex (‘DECC’s Consumer Funded Policies – a report to Parliament’) to the Annual Energy Statement.Publication of the Annual Energy Statement is expected in Autumn 2014.

Energy Supply

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the likely transmission cost per consumer in each regional distribution network area in each year from 2014 to 2022.

Matthew Hancock: Ofgem regulates network expenditure through the price control processes, which set out how much the network companies can spend and what can be passed through to consumers over an eight-year period. Network costs are charged to network users on a cost reflective basis to ensure that the networks are built, maintained and operated in an economically efficient way.DECC publishes average bill impacts. In March 2013, the Government published estimates of the impact of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills for 2013, 2020 and 2030:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/172923/130326_-_Price_and_Bill_Impacts_Report_Final.pdf.

Cabinet Office

Unemployment: Young People

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the level of youth unemployment in (a) the UK and (b) Woking constituency in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Youth Unemployment
(PDF Document, 145.61 KB)

Unemployment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the status is of Sir Jeremy Heywood's review of provision for 16 to 24 year olds.

Mr Francis Maude: The 16-24 review concluded earlier this year and its findings continue to inform ongoing government policy development.

Minimum Wage: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Wales and (b) Newport East constituency earning the minimum wage.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Minimum Wage
(PDF Document, 101.62 KB)

Jobseeker's Allowance: Motherwell

Mr Frank Roy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of the working age population of Motherwell and Wishaw constituency are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Jobseekers Allowance
(PDF Document, 101.66 KB)

Unemployment: Motherwell

Mr Frank Roy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of workless households in Motherwell and Wishaw constituency.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Workless Households
(PDF Document, 336.05 KB)

Pay: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people earning below the living wage in (a) Wales and (b) Newport East constituency.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Living Wage
(PDF Document, 98.57 KB)

Policy

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government policies announced since the Coalition Agreement have not been implemented; and what the reason is for not implementing each such policy.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which of the policies outlined in the Coalition Agreement have not been implemented; and what the reason is for not implementing each such policy.

Mr Oliver Letwin: I refer the Hon Gentlemen to Departmental Business Plans which record all commitments, timescales for completion and progress against them. The Business Plans are fully transparent and are available at www.transparency.number10.gov.uk

Department for Culture Media and Sport

VisitBritain and VisitEngland

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the core funding for VisitBritain and VisitEngland was in 2010 and is now.

Mrs Helen Grant: In 2010/11 Government funding for VisitBritain and VisitEngland was £40.323 million. In 2014/15 Government funding was £51.984 million. The table contains a breakdown of the funding: Financial YearVisitBritain GIA (£m)VisitBritain GREAT Funding (£m)VisitEngland GIA (£m)VisitEngland GREAT Funding (£m)VisitEngland Regional Growth Fund via BIS (£m)Total2010/1140.323*-   40.3232014/1519.883176.36426.73751.984*grant-in-aid for both bodies was recorded on a consolidated basis before 2011/12.

Tourism

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the value to the economy of domestic tourism was in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

Mrs Helen Grant: Since 2010, domestic tourism spend in England has grown by 14.1% - from £56.7bn* to £64.7bn in 2013. Domestic tourism spend in 2012 was a record-breaking £67,956m. We will not have a final figure for 2014 until next year. Overall, Deloitte estimated that the tourism industry was worth £127 billion GVA to the UK economy in 2013, £58 billion of which is ‘direct’ contribution. Source: http://www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics/major-tourism-surveys/overnightvisitors/ ; http://www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics/major-tourism-surveys/dayvisitors/*this is based on an estimate as there was no day visit survey in 2010

Tourism Alliance

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he last met the Tourism Alliance.

Mrs Helen Grant: All DCMS Ministers’ external meetings are published quarterly on the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/313639/Transparency_Declarations_Oct-Dec_2013_csv.csv/preview

Tourism

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the amount spent by local authorities on tourism development and promotion in each year since 2010; and what his estimate is of the amount that will be so spent in 2014-15.

Mrs Helen Grant: Revenue and capital tourism expenditure by English Local Authorities is available on the Department for Communities and Local Government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing.

Broadband

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people are covered by each of the three market exchange categories for broadband in (a) South Lanarkshire, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK.

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many businesses are registered in each of the market exchange categories for broadband in (a) South Lanarkshire, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The information requested is not readily available. With the exception of the Hull area, where KCom is the only significant provider, the broadband market is defined according to the level of competition across the UK as whole. Ofcom carries out a rolling programme of market reviews of competition in communications markets to ensure that regulation remains appropriate and proportionate in the light of changing market conditions. The market definition and market analysis procedure that Ofcom is required to follow is set out in the EU regulatory framework for communications. In June of this year, on completion of its latest Wholesale Broadband Access (WBA) market review, Ofcom reduced the number of market areas from 4 to 3 to better reflect developments in the market since the last review was undertaken in 2010. Details of the market areas, the number of exchanges in each area and the percentage of premises served are: AreaNo of exchanges% of UK premises servedThe Hull area140.7%Market A31969.5%Market B239089.8% Market A is defined as an area as where there are no more than two principal operators present or forecast to be present, and market B as an area where there is effective competition. Market A tends to be in the more rural and remote parts of the country. Details of the exchanges in each area are available in the Ofcom WBA statement published on 26 June - http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/review-wba-markets/statement/

House of Commons Commission

Training

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost was of running the (a) Leading for Parliament and (b) Milestones to Management training schemes; how many staff attended each such course; and how many staff nominally employed as a Clerk attended each such course.

John Thurso: (a) Leading for Parliament was a bespoke leadership course designed for senior leaders and managers in the House of Commons. It ran from 2012–2014 with 130 Commons staff attending, 32 of whom were SCS or Band A clerks. Total costs of design, delivery and materials was £375,000;(b) Milestones for Management is a bespoke management development programme for more junior managers and staff moving into their first post with line management responsibility. It began in 2011 and will be completed in March 2015 with 73 managers participating. Of this number 12 were Band “A” staff, five of whom were clerks. Total costs of design, delivery and materials is £182,500;Modules from both programmes have also been run as stand-alone sessions. These have been well attended by staff from all departments, particularly the modules on performance management and managing change.

Department of Health

Abortion

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue a response from his Department to the comments of the British Medical Association in its press release on government guidance on abortion on the grounds of gender of 27 May 2014 entitled Abortion guidance ignores gender complexity; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: We have noted the views of the British Medical Association on this issue.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent by each NHS Trust and NHS foundation trust on contract and agency staff in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Following the Francis report many trusts increased their spend on temporary staffing to meet safe staffing levels.   The Department expects trusts to have a strong grip on their finances, and manage their agency and temporary staffing spend responsibly through effective and efficient workforce planning and management.   Spend by each National Health Service foundation trust on contract and agency staff[1] in each of the last five years is attached.   The amount spent by each NHS trust on contract and agency staff in 2013-14 is attached. Amounts for 2009-10 to 2012-13 were not separately identified from other non permanent staff[2].1. The definition of Contract / Agency staff is: “Agency” employee payments for the employment of staff where the staff remain employees of the agency and “Contract staff” where the NHS trust has control over numbers and qualifications of staff (in contrast to a service obtained under contract) . [2] non-permanent staff are defined as “others engaged on the objectives of the organisation including staff on inward secondment or loan from other organisations, bank/agency/temporary staff and contract staff. 



NHS trusts contract and agency spend- 5 years 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.33 KB)




NHS trusts contract and agency spend- 2013-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 14.31 KB)

Hospitals: Cumbria

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times each Minister in his Department has visited (a) West Cumberland Hospital and (b) Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle since May 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: On 8 July 2010, my Rt. hon Friend the then Secretary of State (Mr Andrew Lansley) visited West Cumberland hospital.

West Cumberland Hospital

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many items of correspondence his Department has received on West Cumberland Hospital.

Dr Daniel Poulter: A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 145 items of correspondence received since 1 October 2013 about West Cumberland Hospital. This figure represents correspondence received by the Department’s Ministerial correspondence unit only.

Cromer and District Hospital

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Minister of State for Care and Support has visited Cromer and District Hospital in his ministerial capacity.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Since September 2012 there have been no Ministerial visits to Cromer and District hospital. This excludes any visits that my Rt. hon Friend the Minister of State (Norman Lamb) may have undertaken in his constituency capacity.

Hospitals: Surrey

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times he has visited (a) Frimley Park Hospital and (b) Royal Surrey County Hospital in his ministerial capacity.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information requested is as follows:   6 April 2011, Mr Andrew Lansley visited Frimley Park hospital 23 December 2013, Mr Jeremy Hunt visited Royal Surrey County hospital 26 June 2014, Mr Jeremy Hunt visited Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 4 August 2014, Mr Jeremy Hunt visited Royal Surrey County hospital

Baby Care Units

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health of 20 October 2014, Official Report, columns 735-6, to which hospitals he was referring when discussing transfers of care for premature babies in his constituency.

Dr Daniel Poulter: In Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust provides level 2 specialist neonatal care. If a baby requires level 3 neonatal care, which is the highest level of specialist care, the Trust contacts the nearest level 3 units to locate a suitable available cot. The regional level 3 units are at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in Norwich. However, if cots are not available at these hospitals, further units would be contacted to locate an available cot.

Pregnancy: Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who is responsible for commissioning perinatal mental health mother and baby units within NHS England.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS England is responsible for commissioning perinatal mental health units in England. NHS England works with a range of stakeholders at a national level to determine the outcomes expected for specialised services such as perinatal mental health. The service specification for perinatal mental health services can be found at the following link:   www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-c/c06/

Judicial Review

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many judicial review cases have been successfully brought against his Department in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The following table shows the number of judicial review cases brought against the Department and Public Health England (PHE) since 2010. Until 2013, information was not held centrally on whether the decisions challenged in these applications were upheld.   YearDepartment of HealthPublic Health England (an executive agency of the Department)  Number of applications for judicial review made during yearNumber of applications for judicial review made during yearNumber of applications upheld during year201035--201126--201227--2013291*2**201411 to date0 to date0 to date   *This application was made prior to 31 March 2013, before the formation of PHE. ** These were successful challenges against decisions of the Department of Health, the two applications were joined and dealt with together.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether any audits have been carried out since April 2012 which consider how many patients may have been detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 because a doctor had been influenced by the fact that doing so might make the provision of a bed for their patient more likely; and what were the findings of those audits.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the regulator of the Mental Health Act 1983. In their annual report for 2012-13 Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2012/13, published in January 2014, the CQC noted concerns raised by the House of Commons Health Committee over whether the Act’s powers of detention were being used improperly to access services. They said they found no direct evidence of unlawful practice.   On 22 August 2014, the CQC published a series of reports relating to its inspection in May 2014 of services provided by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. The CQC found that that bed occupancy at the Trust averaged 96.4% between October and December last year, compared to the average of 85.9% across England. CQC inspectors were told that the pressures on beds meant that most new admissions to inpatient beds were people detained under the Act.   The CQC’s annual report on the Act for 2013-14 is expected to be published early in 2015.

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, further to the answer of 21 October 2014 to question 210443, how many clinical commissioning groups commission foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and foetal alcohol syndrome services.

Jane Ellison: This information is not held centrally.   Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is an umbrella term used to describe a range of conditions associated with prenatal alcohol exposure.   Early intervention services can help reduce some of the effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and prevent some of the secondary disabilities that result.   Responsibility for commissioning these services lies with clinical commissioning groups.

Ebola

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions the Government has had with the private sector and voluntary sector health providers in relation to the Ebola crisis.

Jane Ellison: Since July 2014, Public Health England (PHE) has been issuing advice to health care providers about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The outbreak was declared an international public health emergency by the United Nations in August. The advice from PHE has been extensive, covering issues such as guidance on the management of patients and infection control and prevention for staff.   The Chief Medical Officer has issued three Central Alerting System alerts on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, on 2 July, 1 August and 7 October. The alert reminded healthcare providers to remain vigilant for cases imported to the United Kingdom, emphasising the importance of taking a full travel history when assessing relevant patients and information on identifying and managing possible cases of Ebola virus disease and actions for all clinicians to ensure preparedness for the possibility of an imported case in the UK.   These alerts were cascaded to the entire NHS in England, as well as PHE, PHE Consultants in Communicable Disease Control, PHE Consultants in Health Protection, Trust Microbiologists, Virologists and Infectious Disease Clinicians, private hospitals across England and Clinical Commissioning Group Leads. The alert was also sent to the devolved administrations.